Walking around Saint Germain-des-Prés in the footsteps of the female writers who found inspiration in Paris—Colette, George Sand, and more. On this literary walk, we illuminate the lives and achievements of these women, showing you where they lived or worked and how they helped to advance the Women's Liberation movement in France. Our stops will also be punctuated with opportunities to taste some of the best French desserts in a neighbourhood known for its many confectionery shops.
Sample a heavenly salted butter caramel from the inventor himself!
Try a delicious "kouignette" from a renowned Parisian pastry shop
Our guide Pat, who is also a librarian, was so knowledgeable and was a wonderful story teller! Also quite funny so there was a lot of laughing. She brought these amazing women to life sharing their inspirations and achievements. And the sweet treats were the cherry on top. Can’t recommend highly enough!
A wonderful tour that lead us through the streets of St Germaine. We learned all about the female literary makers and shakers of the time. Toured around a good section of town stopping along the way to learn the history. Also stopping for two treats which was a good surprise.
Our guide was very knowledgeable
I joined the Sugar & Spice tour on Saturday, April 25th, and it was every bit as unique as I hoped it would be. Walking the streets of Paris while learning deep historical insights about the great women of the Romantic era was a fantastic experience. It was wonderful to share this with a group of people so passionate about uncovering history's best-kept secrets, all while tasting some of Paris's finest pastries. I recommend this tour without reservation for anyone wanting to truly feel the Paris vibe from a historical perspective. Superb organization!
Very knowledgable guide able to highlight key and interesting things and we learned a lot of new things. Walking distance was short but great atmosphere and we went back to follow the same route to just take in the atmosphere by ourselves and visit the shops.
Amazing. Highlight of my stay here in Paris. Pat was a fun guide!
It was interesting and good to learn about the women in Paris. And the sweets were very tasty too.
Pat was an excellent guide and a very personable and interesting person. We enjoyed all the stories about the literary women of France and could have listened to her forever. She is extremely knowledgeable and down to earth and we loved every minute of our time together.
Interesting and informative with lots of details that we’d never have known on our own. Small international group which is great for chatting with fellow travellers. Inside tips for making the most of one’s Paris visit a bonus! Recommended
The lesser known stories of women with verry intersting lives. Recomend for people who are interested in litritire and social history or feminism. It was verry enganging and eye opening for younger generations.
great experience, very insightful and fun tour :) enjoyed listening to the guide and will come back for other tours in the future!
On a wet and cool morning our enthusiastic guide, Pat took us on a whirlwind behind- the-scenes tour of the haunts of some of Paris’ notable literary women. I especially was impressed with Pat’s knowledge and the way she presented these women as real-life heroes in a world that typically favored men. The facts and the stories were fascinating and always innovative. To see where Sylvia Beach finally published Ulysses was a total surprise, along with the discovery of some sweet treats their origins of which I would never have known about. Well-done, Pat.
Excellent walking tour featuring female literary giants in writing and publishing. I learned a lot. I also enjoyed the yummy nibbles at Maison du Roux and the Bréton bakery near Odeon. Our tour guide was great and she finished on time. Highly recommend!
I showed up at the appointed place before the appointed time, not knowing the program was cancelled as i was the only interested person. After hanging around for more than half an hour without being able to contact anyone relating the tour I went back to my hotel and called American Express, who gave me a US number to call. The person on the other end said nobody else was interested in the tour so they cancelled, that she tried to message me the day before and couldn’t reach me. She immediately said she would refund. My advice, skip this one, unless you’re bringing your own group. Unreliable. I wasted not only time, but return taxi fares.
Once again, I was very impressed by the guide’s expertise in the subject and ability to convey her knowledge through engaging storytelling. This tour is a must for those who would like to orient themselves in the literary life of women in Paris. And the sweet treats were incredibly good.
The tour was so lovely! Got to see a ton of things in the St Germaine area while learning about some amazing female writers. Our tour guide, a librarian formerly from the UK, was so knowledgeable, funny, and enthusiastic. She had a lot of great tips and info to add for us in addition to the info on the writers highlighted on the tour. She was a great story teller and extremely engaging making me want to learn more after the tour. I'd highly recommend this to anyone wanting to learn some lesser known writers off the beaten path. I'll definitely take another tour with this company in the future!
We enjoyed an interesting morning with our tour guide Emily, learning about the incredible powerhouse women of the Parisian literary scene. The obstacles they overcame to pursue their passion for literature are not well known, but should be and Women in Paris do a great job of making that happen.
Pat was a terrific storyteller who clearly loves the topic. Truly enjoyed the tour and so interesting, learned a lot. Pat brought a camp chair for me to sit on during the stops as I had a knee injury. So thoughtful! I was very appreciative. A great experience on the Left Bank, highly recommend!
Emily was a wonderful tour guide, she spoke about the authors and the local area with a lot of knowledge and passion. What a brilliant tour and I look forward to doing another one with the company when I’m next back in Paris
A great tour filled with wonderful anecdotes and nuggets of information and a couple of sweet treats. We loved it.
This was the BEST TOUR I took in Paris! I learned so much, and it was fun and interesting. The tour guide was knowledgeable and clearly interested in the subject. I came to Paris wanting to know more about the women writers of Paris, and I am so happy to have found this tour about this very topic. Highly recommend!
Very entertaining tour. I went with my daughter and a friend. Our tour guide, Pat, was friendly and very well informed. The tour was very interesting- we couldn’t believe that 2-1/2 hours had gone by so quickly. I highly recommend this.
The tour was refreshingly unpredictable introducing literary women I hadn’t read or heard of previously and inspiring me to read more about and by them. There were also new perspectives on writers I have read and the French and Parisian contexts offered by the tour made these just as interesting. Our guide was exceptionally knowledgeable and scaled the information according to our own knowledge, curiosities and interests. The tastings refuelled us along the way with but also gave us the backstory to each of the treats we enjoyed. This felt less like a formal, rehearsed tour but like being on a walk in conversation with a very knowledgeable friend. As a solo traveller, this was a great opportunity to meet other travellers, but it would be equally as engaging if attending as part of a group.
Because of an interesting but unrelated tour with Heidi, I was enrolled onto this tour. Our guide was Pat and like Heidi she was interesting and well informed. I recommend it to anyone interested in the literary history of Paris. I found it a good addition that we stopped several places for a sweet. Not having paid attention, I thought I was going on the women of Paris tour not the sugar and spice alternative, so until I arrived back at my Parisian flat, I thought the sweet break unusual and then saw the title of my actual tour.
What a lovely way to spend a birthday weekend in Paris. Pat was so knowledgeable and gave us lots of detailed information on the Sugar & Spice tour. I’d definitely recommend visiting if you’re interested in women’s history! Looking forward to attending the other tours on offer when I return to Paris 🇫🇷
It was an amazing tour! Our guide Emily was super nice and teached us a lot. Definitely one of the best experiences we've had while in Paris.
Learned a lot on this tour with Emily ! Enjoyed the sweet tastings too. Looking forward to joining more tours in the future.
My friends and I had an amazing time with Emily on the Sugar and Spice Tour. We learned so much and it was cool seeing another side of Paris.
Great tour, walking around nice places and hearing lots of interesting stories. Congrats to Pat, great guide!
This was a very interesting and informative tour. We had some challenges within the group but Pat handled it all very well. I have done several walking tours during my 10 day stay in Paris and this ranks among the best.
My friend and I enjoyed this tour on our first day in Paris. As we are staying in St. Germain de Pres, it was a good way to get to know the neighborhood. Heidi is very knowledgeable and chic, and we enjoyed the tastings too.
Heidi took the tour my Mum and I were on and was a great guide. We loved the rich information she provided about some seminal women in literature, the places we were able to view and the sweet treats we had along the way. Would thoroughly recommend.
My husband and I really enjoyed the Sugar and Spice / Women of Paris tour. Pat is a great guide and she told us memorable stories about some truly remarkable literary women who lived here. We also walked past lovely boutiques and art galleries and did some shopping after the tour ended! One tip- wear comfortable shoes, because it’s a good 2.5 hour walk at a moderate pace. Thanks for the experience!
Heidi was an amazing guide! She was so nice and I learnt a lot of new things about this wonderful city!!
I found this to be a very enjoyable few hours in Paris. More informative than I expected and the literary women discussed were not just the usual suspects. The stops for sweets from two of Paris' best producers was also an enjoyable part of the walk.
We had a wonderful time walking around Paris with Heidi (and stopping by for a few treats !). The tour was very well orchestrated, fun and interesting. We would definitely recommend and hope to come back next year :)
This was an amazing tour of the left bank of Paris. The tour guide was so knowledgeable about all the women she was sharing with us and was friendly and inclusive of everyone. The two tastings were nice ways to break up the tour and the mix of writers and publishers was very interesting. I highly recommend this tour as a fun way to explore the left bank and get to learn more about literary women!
Enjoyed learning about the influential women writers of France and seeing all of the different places they lived and worked.
Great information at a great and interactive pace. Pat knew her stuff and seemed enthusiastic to share her knowledge. Wear comfy shoes, sun protection, bring water, and glasses to see the pictures she shares.
Pat was great! Very intriguing and entertaining tour through the historical streets of Paris. I enjoyed every minute.
Pat was amazing and very informative. I loved learning about Colette and her contributions to normalizing LGBT culture in a time where it was not publicly accepted. It was really great learning about female contributions in literary works in contrast to the typical male narrative that is portrayed.
This was a great and very informative experience! I learned a lot about the women france and their influence in french society. Pat was a great speaker and kept it educational!
Very informative! So many brilliant women in Saint-Germain-des-Près. Pat was knowledgeable and friendly.
The tour guide Pat was so informative! Many women’s stories are forgotten in history and deserve to be told! Definitely recommend for anyone interested in french history and french literature.
The tour was a nice change from "traditional French history" you might hear about in other tours. Walling around a fairly small neighborhood, we got to see a lot of different places and hear about a lot of unique women in Paris history.
The tour was cool. I heard about people I didn’t know existed. I like the representation of lesbian relationships and learning about the experience of women cross dressing for various reason. 10/10 recommend. -Emi
My favorite part of this tour was hearing about the diverse women that have made up the fabric of French history. Pat was an amazing tour guide with a lot of knowledge :)
I came with a group and Pat was very knowledgeable and we were able to see the city around saint germain. Enjoyed my time!
Loved the content, especially the information on Marguerite (ex-wife of Henry IV). Loved Shakespeare and Co.
I loved everything about this tour - the history of the women who had such an impact on the city, the sweet treats - even the moment when the skies opened and the rain poured - because even in the rain Paris is still beautiful!
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